Although, it’s not as simple as getting rid of the chemical all together.

“If we eliminated the use of Nitrogen in corn fields completely, it definitely would raise the cost. I would guess by 50 to 100 percent of what the cost for food now,” said Grove.

For some, the big concern is runoff reaching drinking water, although according to one area scientist, it’s not a likely concern.

“It’s not gonna get down in our drinking waters, so we don’t have to worry about that yet. It’s a bigger concern for producers, farmers that spend money on fertilizers,” said Rich Finstead of Frontier Labs.

At Frontier Labs, Rich studies nitrogen levels in soil to help decide what are safe amounts.

According to Rich, most municipalities in Iowa draw water from wells as opposed to the surface.

One way he says limits the risk of contamination.

For farmers like Chuck, he understands any potential issues and says he already has options to limit the risk.

“We have something that you put it into the mix before the nitrogen gets applied to the field. It doesn’t allow it to break down here as quickly so it’s not near as suspect to excess water,” said Grove.

“It’s definitely a concern but most farmers are watching that nitrogen application rate because of the cost of it. They’re not gonna apply too much more than they need,” said Finstead.